Barclays gives boost to small builders with £1 billion fund

Barclays and housing agency Homes England on Wednesday unveiled a new £1 billion fund in an attempt to plug a gap in the market to encourage smaller builders.

Since the banking crisis, the share of new homes built by small and medium-sized builders has plunged dramatically, because of a lack of access to finance.

That has left almost 70% of all new homes built by the UK’s 10 biggest housebuilders.

Barclays has sunk £875 million into the fund, with a further £125 million coming from Homes England.

The pair hope the cash — which will be offered in loans ranging from £5 million up to a maximum of £100 million — could help to deliver more than 6000 new homes.

The cash will only go to firms with a “successful track record” delivering a minimum of 10 homes, and Barclays hopes to be making its first loans from the fund by the end of the year.

The bank’s head of real estate Dennis Watson said the homes would be “at the affordable end of the market” with the “vast, vast majority” eligible for Help to Buy support.